A brief history of ensemble
“Cossack Circle”

The debut of the ensemble took place on February, 23, 1987.
The “Cossack Circle” was formed from the participants of the folklore studio
lead by Andrei Kabanov, a recognized authority in folklore and traditional
culture of Cossacks, musicologist and ethnographer, an enthusiastic collector of
the musical riches of the Cossack lands.

There are more than three hundred songs of Cossacks of Don,
Kuban, Terek and Siberia in repertoire of ensemble. Both professional
ethnomusicologists, and members of ensemble collected those songs during
folklore expeditions to the Cossack areas.

This repertoire is based on historical, military, lyrical
and epic songs, with complex polyphonic and rhythmic structure, as well as
improvisational interaction of performers. Cossacks "play" their
songs, again and again experiencing the events of their history. The aspiration
to play a song how it sounds in living tradition, keeping all characteristic
performing methods is the distinctive feature of the ensemble “Cossack
Circle”. That’s why the expeditions to the Cossack stanitsas, meetings with
the true masters of the Cossack singing, careful listening, decoding and
studying of the "field" records became a key rule in ensemble’s
activity.

Ensemble tours with concerts in Russia and abroad, and is
well-known to those who appreciate authentic folklore sound.